June 2011

In Texas, at-will employees can prepare to compete against their current employers without violating the common law duty of loyalty.  Determining whether the line between lawful preparation to compete and unlawful competition begins is sometimes gray.  (See post).  A recent case from the Houston Court of Appeals provides a good summary of what an at-will…

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued the last of its employment-related decisions for the 2010-11 Term.  Here is a brief summary of the labor and employment cases decided this term.

  • Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., (No. 09-834) (holding that an employee has engaged in protected activity under the FLSA even if his only complaint is an

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Here are quick list of 15 questions you should not ask applicants in the interview process.

  1. How old are you? 
  2. When did you graduate high school?
  3. Do you have small children or do you plan to have children?
  4. Have you ever had a workers’ compensation claim?
  5. What medicines are you taking?
  6. Are you married?
  7. What country

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The Texas Supreme Court has issued an opinion this morning holding that noncompetition agreements supported by stock options and good will are not unenforceable as a matter of law.  I previewed this case here.  As I have time to digest the majority, concurring and dissenting opinions, I’ll provide more thoughts on this case. You…

The Fifth Circuit held today that a spouse of a successful Title VII plaintiff cannot maintain a legal claim for loss of consortium (i.e., loss of spousal services) under state and federal law.  In Barker, Tracey Barker was a civilian worker employed by Halliburton (aka KBR).  She claimed she was subjected to sexual harassment, retaliation and…

The Texas Legislature completed its regular session and is now in special session to address school financing legislation.  The good news for Texas employers is that the Legislature did little damage to employer’s rights during the regular session.  Bills to bring Obama-styled legislation to the Texas Labor Code such as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay…

This week the EEOC held a hearing on whether new or updated regulations and enforcement guidance was needed with respect to providing leave of absence as a reasonable accommodation for disabled employees.  The EEOC has recently been very aggressive in bringing suit against employers that use maximum leave policies or "inflexible" policies that provide no exception for reasonable accommodation. …

Earlier this week the Dallas Court of Appeals rejected an employee’s attempt to create a new wrongful termination cause of action.  In Martin v. Clinical Pathology Lab., Joyce Martin sued her employer for terminating her employment after she requested time off to vote in the November 2008 General Election.  According to her petition, Martin…

Schools are out for the summer and many college and graduate students are looking for experience in what they hope will be their chosen careers.  Employer’s looking to provide that experience through the use of unpaid internships must understand the rules that qualify an internship for "unpaid" status or unwittingly create potential wage and hour…